Tag Archives: Scrumpy

Apple Sludge Splat

500D_1733500D_1730It 500D_1731had all looked so easy.  The recipe for the scrumpy said chop up some ginger,  squeeze four lemons (I had two and a half, but hey, who’s counting?).  Then add a kilo of sugar.  Then add the strained apple juice to the mixture.  I had carefully sterilised a fruit strainer (for making jam) and this was the mixture, ready to go and looking good.  I had carefully sterilised two jugs and another tub to move things in to as well.  I looked very organised when I got to the filtering stage, but as you can see, it all went a little pear shaped.  Thankfully my wife ran to the rescue and I mopped the floor afterwards with a slightly embarrassed expression on my face.

(It was my intention to taste the blummin’ stuff at some point before putting it away to ferment, but I was in such high dudgeon that I forgot.  I’ll just be patient…)

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Scrumpy

I wanted to make scrumpy, which I *think* is made from apples crushed with water as opposed to cider which is made from freshly squeezed apple juice.  I went to the lovely local library and found BREWING: A step-by-ste guide to making beer, wine and cider by Jack thompson.  I then followed the recipe for “Scrumpy Cider”.  Well, I say followed, but as usual my impatience got the better of me.  It says “roughly chop the apples” then cover with lots of boiling water, then “crush every few days”.  I did this but nothing happened for 5 days.  I imagined that the yeast had been fried.  Maybe I should have let the water cool down.

Anyhow, I came home 5 days after it started to find still no action at all.  I blitzed the apples with a hand held food mixer and shoved in some bakers’ yeast.  Apparently some recipes have raw meat, but I didn’t fancy that.  It got going right away and five more days later it looks more interesting.

The next step is in a few days when I mix it with other ingredients.

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